New rule protects catchers, stirs confusion

MLB stops short of banning collisions at home plate, leaving violations to umpire's judgment

February 25, 2014|By Craig Davis, Staff Writer

JUPITER — The intent of the new rule prohibiting the most egregious collisions at home plate to reduce injuries got generally favorable reviews from the Marlins on Tuesday.

But there was confusion in that some contact will still be permissable, as well as concern that it will eliminate aggressiveness from runners trying to score.

"I understand what they're doing: They're protecting the catcher. They're trying to eliminate the dirty plays, basically," Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "I'm for that. From what I understand it's basically going to be the same, you just can't block the plate without the ball, which is how it should be. I always thought that was the rule to begin with."

Experimental rule 7.13 adopted this week by Major League Baseball and ratified by the players' association mandates that runners cannot deviate from the path to the plate in order to initiate contact with a catcher. Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, he cannot block the pathway of the runner attempting to score.

The rule was conceived in response to serious injuries to catchers such as the Giants' Buster Posey, who was run over by then-Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins in 2011, as well as by concussion studies.

"I never had a problem with collisions. I like the aggressiveness on both sides," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond, a former catcher. "Of course I don't want to see anybody get hurt. You've taken away the aggressiveness from the runner now, but you've still kept it on the side of the catcher. So I'm not sure how that's exactly going to play."

The rule that will be utilized this season is a compromise from the total ban on collisions that some had sought, notably Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

The Cardinals, who share the spring training complex at Roger Dean Stadium with the Marlins, made it known they will instruct players at all levels of the organization to avoid contact. General Manager John Mozeliak said catchers will be taught to not block the plate and runners to slide.

Meanwhile, the Marlins took the padded dummies out of storage and resumed drills simulating collisions at home plate which had been shelved this spring in anticipation that contact would be outlawed.

Saltalamacchia said he doesn't anticipate much of a change.

"The way the rule is now is exactly how I was taught to defend myself at home plate. You want to kind of eliminate yourself from getting hurt so you always want to have your left foot show the plate so the runner wants to slide instead of wants to go standing up," he said. "The only difference is catchers in the past have blocked the plate a little bit before they got the ball. That's illegal now. That's good, it protects both sides."

It is unclear whether the new rule would have prevented one of the most famous plays in Marlins history, when Pudge Rodriguez recorded the final out of the 2003 National League Division Series by withstanding a collision with the Giants' J.T. Snow. Rodriguez had the ball and moved to block the path to the plate when Snow lowered his shoulder and plowed into the Marlins catcher.

"If he's got the ball, it's like it's always been. That's the way I read it," said Marlins General Manager Dan Jennings.

Although the rule doesn't mandate that runners slide, it requires that clubs train their runners to slide and their catchers to provide the runner with a pathway to reach the plate.

Umpires have the option of using instant replay to determine if the rule has been violated.

Marlins non-roster invitee Ty Wigginton, who had a memorable collision with Redmond in 2003, said, "Once we get the details how they're looking to judge it, then we'll see how it changes the game. … When rule changes happen, to me it's always weird. The replay on home runs a few years ago, it's kind of like, Babe Ruth didn't have it, why do we need it?"